Business Analyst

Objective:

This IT opportunity is designed for a motivated and determined leader to play a fundamental role in working with Heffernan business partners while ensuring the strategic and tactical alignment between a business organization (functional area) and the IT organization. Serves as the primary point of contact for their business partners for the intake of existing and new IT capability requests, the escalation for issues in current capabilities and the achievement of IT/business related goals. Represents business partners to the IT organization for realization of business value through IT delivery. Works directly with the business for functional requirements gathering, preparation of test plans/scripts, process analysis and financial analysis.  Works closely with vendors for delivery of services and projects. Works across the IT organization to ensure their business partner's unique needs are incorporated into IT standards, architecture, and enterprise solutions.

Responsibilities Include:

• Accountable for developing functional strategies, roadmaps, and charters.
• Exhibit thought leadership on industry trends and innovation opportunities to translate business requirements into IT requirements, functional and technical specifications.
• Responsible to help with business prioritization to ensure appropriate strategies and roadmaps are achieved across the enterprise.
• Drives alignment between business and IT strategies across the enterprise through routine IT planning processes.
• Establish and maintain business relationships with departmental and organizational executives and leaders.
• Drive transparency with the business by understanding business partner IT needs, challenge assumptions, and champion efforts within IT to develop cost effective, innovative solutions that can be leveraged across the enterprise.
• Review and confirm cyber security, financial and risk management information in business cases. Utilize needs analyses to verify requests are compatible with business and business aligned architecture directions to determine what is above and below the enterprise solution.
• Engage in RFPs, RFQs, and Solution reviews to drive to business aligned solutions that work for the business and fit into our IT security and architecture framework.   
• Engage and influence at all levels of the organization and articulate business and IT visions in a bi-directional manner.
• Educate business leaders on technology strategy, trends, and how this relates to their business objectives.
• Provide detailed, accurate and timely updates on current activities to all stakeholders.
• Ensure proper business engagement at appropriate times with IT through communication and change management (e.g. blueprinting, testing).
• Maintain customer service focus with the ability to actively listen, elicit information, comprehend issues/needs, and recommend solutions.
• Responsible for business requirements creation through interviews, meetings and/or existing system documentation, detailed functional analysis and process flows. Creates “as is” and “to be” process flows to complete a gap analysis to define critical deliverables for supported functions.
• Designs, develops and implements requirements, test planning, test scripts, functional requirements, process requirements, critical analysis and documentation to support the delivery of process and systems for the enterprise.
• Assists the IT and business team to develop user acceptance criteria during the solution
• Work closely with the support organization in planning and execution of the knowledge transfer and release management during the delivery phase of projects
• Works with stakeholders to understand requirements and suggest enhancements including designing and developing process flows and work instructions and all required deliverables and quality documentation.
• Work with team members, service providers and operational teams to ensure scheduled changes take place with little to no impact to the business (and when applicable with proper notification to the business).

Requirements:

• Education – High school graduate/GED required.
• 5+ years experience building and maintaining relationships with customers, clients, and colleagues.
• 5+ years extensive experience working in Insurance including working with Applied Epic.
• Business Acumen - Understand the complexity of business on a global scale.
• Strategic and Analytical Capability - Ability to think globally, strategically, and objectively.
• Communicates clearly and effectively with associates at all levels.
• Critical thinking and analysis skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and